A regional remit extended to the Caribbean
Announced by Belmond, the promotion of Tiago Moraes Sarmento places the brand’s entire portfolio in Mexico and the Caribbean under his responsibility. The region comprises four properties: Maroma and Casa de Sierra Nevada in Mexico, Cap Juluca in Anguilla and La Samanna in St Martin.
Working closely with teams across the region, he will be tasked with strengthening the distinctive guest experience at each of these properties while supporting their long-term growth. His role as Managing Director, Mexico, held since January 2025, thus extends to an area he knows from the inside.
This reinforcement of regional leadership comes a few weeks after the appointment of Brice Kemper as General Manager of La Samanna, one of the properties now falling within his remit.
A decade with Belmond
Tiago Moraes Sarmento joined Belmond in 2016 as General Manager of Hotel das Cataratas in Foz do Iguaçu, Brazil. The property went on to become the first hotel in South America to earn a Forbes Travel Guide Five-Star rating, against the backdrop of an economic crisis in Brazil that he tackled by seeking additional revenue streams and reducing costs.
In July 2017, at the request of Belmond’s COO, he took over as General Manager of Cap Juluca in Anguilla following the resort’s acquisition. There he led a fifteen-month renovation, presented as the largest investment in Belmond’s history, reconfiguring the property to double its capacity, creating four dining concepts and introducing a Villa Host service.
At the same time, he oversaw sales, marketing and revenue management for La Samanna. His years in Anguilla were also marked by initiatives to support staff and the local community in the wake of the 2017 hurricanes, as well as a seat on the board of the Anguilla Tourist Board from 2020 to 2022, during which he contributed to the destination’s marketing repositioning and to the launch of the first air link between Anguilla and Miami.
From Southern Africa to Mexico
In late 2021, he was appointed General Manager of the Mount Nelson in Cape Town. There he drove a cultural transformation within the teams, repositioned the hotel and developed new dining concepts. The hotel earned a Forbes Travel Guide Five-Star rating and was named best hotel in Africa, notably by LQA and World’s 50 Best. Belmond has since built on this momentum with the arrival of Ángel León and Thebe Magugu at the Mount Nelson.
From September 2023 to March 2025, he combined this role with that of Managing Director, Southern Africa, leading more than 600 employees. He set up a support structure for the region’s three properties, designed as a foundation for Belmond’s development in the area.
Since January 2025, he has headed Belmond’s operations in Mexico, where he is leading the opening of two new properties, Milaroca and Hacienda Katanchel, under a model combining owned assets and management contracts.
Trained at Starwood
Before Belmond, Tiago Moraes Sarmento spent some fifteen years with Starwood Hotels & Resorts. After internships at the Sheraton Park Lane in London and the Sheraton Brussels, he held sales roles at the Westin Turnberry in Scotland and then at the Sheraton Lisboa.
He went on to support three pre-openings as Director of Sales and Marketing: Hotel Marqués de Riscal, a Luxury Collection Hotel, in Elciego, Spain; the St. Regis Mexico City; and the St. Regis Tianjin in China. From 2012 to 2016, he was Hotel Manager of the St. Regis Bahia Beach Resort in Puerto Rico, which earned a Forbes Travel Guide Five-Star rating under his operational leadership. In 2015, he also served as interim General Manager of the W Vieques Retreat & Spa.
A graduate of the Escola Superior de Hotelaria e Turismo do Estoril and Glion Institute of Higher Education, he also completed INSEAD’s Blue Ocean Strategy Programme in 2019.
Slow Luxury as a guiding thread
Having lived and worked in thirteen countries, Tiago Moraes Sarmento champions a leadership style built on trust and a shared sense of purpose within teams. Commenting on his promotion, he said that over the past decade at Belmond he had had the opportunity to work alongside extraordinary teams who bring Slow Luxury to life every day, and that in taking on these new responsibilities he looked forward to extending that journey to the Caribbean as well as Mexico.
He added that the challenge now was to create even more exceptional experiences for guests, celebrating the distinctive culture and character of each destination while continuing to elevate what makes every stay unforgettable.
THT Analysis – By bringing Mexico and the Caribbean under a single leadership, Belmond entrusts both markets to an executive who has already run Cap Juluca and La Samanna, at a time when the brand is preparing new openings in Mexico.
At a glance by The Hospitality Tribune
Belmond promotes Tiago Moraes Sarmento to Regional Managing Director, Mexico and Caribbean
Effective October 2026; Managing Director, Mexico since January 2025
Portfolio: Maroma and Casa de Sierra Nevada (Mexico), Cap Juluca (Anguilla), La Samanna (St Martin)
With Belmond since 2016: Hotel das Cataratas, Cap Juluca, Mount Nelson, Southern Africa
Leading the openings of Milaroca and Hacienda Katanchel in Mexico
Some fifteen years with Starwood, including St. Regis pre-openings in Mexico City and Tianjin
